? Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a devastating disease with an increasing incidence in Western countries. It is the fourth-leading cause of cancer death in both men and women. The development of standardized data collection (patient information), together with a comprehensive plan for registering all PC cases and collecting data on individuals at high-risk of developing PC, are fundamental needs to achieve a better knowledge of this disease. The use of Multi-Tier Web-based approaches, Data Warehousing (DW), On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) and Data Mining (DM) technologies will be very beneficial for these purposes. These IT technologies, however, must be modernized to really be useful in PC research. The overall goal of this project is to develop an Integrated Biomedical Computing Tool (IBCT) for better understanding, treatment and prediction of PC, by using the power of computing and informatics sciences. The IBCT will contain three integrated components. The Pancreatic Cancer Collaborative Registry (PCCR) component will gather complete information on PC patients and individuals at high risk of developing PC. The Pancreatic Cancer Data Warehouse (PCDW) component will convert the collected data into the format suitable for data mining. The Pancreatic Cancer Statistical Modeling (PCSM) component, consisting of a set of statistical tables and models (including Bayesian Networks), will allow prediction of the risk of PC development and estimation of survival rates. This project will result in the design and development of databases, graphical interfaces and querying approaches, as well as the development of tools for data retrieval, processing and integration. During this project, a variety of computing tools necessary for in-depth incorporation of methodology of information technology (IT) into PC research will be constructed, tested, implemented and documented. The PCCR, PCDW and PCSM will be comprehensively evaluated using the ISO/IEC 14598 standard. A team of well-recognized experts in PC will test all components of the IBCT. This application provides complementary aspects to ongoing clinical, translational and conventional basic science research focused on the fight against PC. The IBCT to be developed in this project can also be used as an infrastructural foundation for research of other types of cancer and chronic diseases. ? ?
| Mdzinarishvili, Tengiz; Gleason, Michael X; Sherman, Simon (2009) Comment re: Cancer incidence falls for oldest. Cancer Res 69:379; author reply 379 |
